November 8, 2024 -Righteousness of the Righteous

EZEKIEL 18:1-19:14

HEBREWS 9:1-10

PSALM 106:32-48

PROVERBS 27:10

One Year Bible Audio & Daily Reading (oneyearbibleonline.com)

Ezekiel 18:20 The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.

This reminds me of recent conversations about the judgement seat of Christ. The Bema. We talked about it at our small group last Monday, and I am reading the book "The Bema" as well. Judgement is different for the believer than it is the unbeliever. Judgement for the unbeliever is on their unbelief. Our sin condemns us and there is nothing that we can do to make it right. So, an unbeliever will be judged according to their sin which will mean eternal separation from God. "The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them". As a Chrisitan we are found righteous in Christ but the righteousness of each of us is going to be different. We are not judged by our sin but by our righteousness. By the life that we live for Christ. How do we respond to all the opportunities that God gives us to serve Him and bring Him Glory. In the book it is pointed out that every Chrisitan's opportunities are different based on where and when they are born and will be taken into account at our judgement. A person who died as a martyr in the 17th century is not the same as someone who in the 25th century lived here in America. But, each one is given opportunity to serve and glorify God. At the judgement we will not be jealous of the glory given to someone else or disappointed with the glory give to us. As Cam taught me, we will all have a full glass but different sized glasses.

God who has placed each one of us into our place and time for a reason. Reasons that He has already predetermined. (Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.) Our righteousness will be determined by our responses to the work that He has laid before us. We should not compare ourselves to others but instead put our focus on recognizing all the opportunities that God is giving us and do the work to the best of our ability.